Energy Conscious Construction

Build For a Better Future

WSU’s Professional Master’s in Energy Conscious Construction (MECC) is offered 100% online, emphasizing high-performing, energy-efficient residential buildings, and covering all phases of the process from design through construction and post occupancy evaluation.

Knowledge in this field is paramount because residential housing is one of the biggest contributors to carbon emissions and climate change, accounting for 23% of all energy use in the State of Washington. The state’s residential energy code is considered one of the most rigorous in the United States, upping requirements for energy efficiency in everything from windows to insulation, in an effort to combat carbon emissions and climate change.

What You’ll Learn

The MECC curriculum prepares students for work in energy-efficient design and construction, aligning with Washington State’s initiatives to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from buildings by tackling the following competency gaps:

1. Energy modeling and simulation: Analyzing design performance prior to construction
2. Environmental Control systems: Integrating energy-efficient ECS into designs
3. Performance benchmarks: Meeting and exceeding state energy code requirements
4. Assemblies & Structural Systems: Integrating high-performing assemblies and structural systems into designs
5. Measured Performance Data: Evaluating built projects through field observations
6. Smart Building Technologies: Understanding human behavior impacts on building operation

The program also includes a one-semester comprehensive design experience, a culminating capstone project that integrates and applies the knowledge and skills acquired throughout the degree program.

Program Strengths

The interdisciplinary design of WSU’s MECC includes courses from the School of Design and Construction, the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, and Washington State University’s nationally recognized Extension Energy Program.

Courses are rooted in the fundamentals of building science coupled with the latest industry standards in design, analysis, codes, systems, assemblies, and performance evaluation.

The online program…

• Opens doors for professionals in design & construction, engineering, and inspection and maintenance.
• Allows students from anywhere in the world to enroll in classes and successfully complete the degree without coming to campus.
• Offers access to course content during the evening hours online so that individuals with jobs can attend lectures without compromising their work.

Program of Study—30 semester credits

All courses are available online
This non-thesis program requires the completion of 30 credits of coursework, including a 4-credit capstone project. The MECC Degree is open to everyone with an undergraduate degree in Design, Engineering, or Construction fields from WSU or outside WSU.

The School of Design and Construction’s programs in Energy Conscious Construction are nationally recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Zero Energy Design Designation.

The designation recognizes education programs that are preparing building professionals in the design and construction of sustainable buildings and distinguishes those that teach zero energy design best practices. WSU was one of 14 educational institutions across the U.S. to receive the designation.

Sponsorship

This degree program is based upon work funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) under the Building Technologies Office (BTO) Award Number DE-EE0009746

Recognition

Washington State University’s Energy Conscious Construction Master’s Degree Program has earned the U.S. Department of Energy’s Zero Energy Design Designation for ensuring students have a solid foundation in building science and the opportunity to apply that knowledge in the design process through its various assessment methods. The Zero Energy Design Designation recognizes the programs’ commitment to imbuing students with a greater understanding of the enduring impacts their design choices have on the built and natural environment.

Related Certificates

Global Campus offers these related undergraduate certificate programs that you can consider pairing with your engineering degree.

• Energy Conscious Construction
• Engineering & Technology Management
• Pavement Durability and Sustainability